


Bone chills

by shybe



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Drama & Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Relationship(s), Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:20:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27911395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shybe/pseuds/shybe
Summary: You're not living your life. You need things to change. Stardew Valley is here for you and you need to find yourself. Maybe it's in him, maybe Sebastian isn't such a hermit, maybe you can fix this life and feel the warmth of the sun again.You can't freeze. You can't tread. He won't let you drown as hard as you might try.
Relationships: Sebastian/Female Player (Stardew Valley)
Kudos: 11





	Bone chills

**Author's Note:**

> Friendly reminder this series does NOT follow the original content/storyline of the game and the characters will have more dialogue than usual. Most of this fic will be character interactions and not farm work. There's also a bit of time skipping and empty space where your character would be working.

The bright lights above me glisten down onto a plainly colored desk, giving it the same hue as any other office: boring, empty, and monotonous. Given that I work here though, I am to make the best of it and hopefully pick out funnily-shaped specks of dust that pass me every second, watching me move pixels on an impossibly bright, incredibly old screen. I give every single one a passing glance as I wait for my break to begin. The air is so silent, so stagnant. I can hear clicking and calling, but it all becomes a great, alienated nothing. As endlessly tremendous as working is, I trail off, daydreaming, reminiscing.

As a small child, I went to this great big farm my grandfather owned. My mother, after being so estranged from her father for so long, thought it would be a good idea to hang out there frequently, watching the passing seasons as I grew taller and matured. As I came less and less, working more and more towards my goals that led me to work at Jojacorp, and here in the bustling Zuzu city, I noticed myself growing emotionally distant from almost everything. Every day I miss the great big trees that outstretched over the long, evergreen grass and precious flowers. I’d always find knickknacks and fresh food, and there were so many kids to play with every day. I wonder what they do now. It’s probably not nearly as boring as my job, as my life. What the hell am I doing, anyway?

“Y/N.” Someone utters as quietly as a mouse. A buzzer goes off, signaling my break. I peer up, and a warm, caring face is looking right down at me. It’s Brianna, my work wife. “We’re gonna go on break, wanna eat lunch with me?”

I nod my head, letting out a smile and the happiest little huff of air. We walk down to the lunch hall, where I buy my Joja-themed club sandwich, giving back the corporation $7 of what they’d just paid me. Sitting down, I notice Bri with a cheery look on her face as I nestle down into the plastic seating.

“What’s got you all up and cheery? Did you drink some extra coffee?” I ask, giving a smirk to the happy-go-lucky Brianna. She gasps as if she had been waiting on me to ask, her hands fumbling in her lap, grabbing her phone and shoving it in my face.

I see…

“So, you’ve got a date, Bri?” I ask teasingly “To a skating rink? That sounds fun, maybe this girl is interesting.”

“I think she’s so pretty and perfect and I hope she can teach me how to skate.” The flush rising to her deep olive cheeks, her gushing just beginning as she talks for almost the whole break about this girl, “Marinette”. Out of interest for the conversation, I’d hardly taken but a few bites of my sandwich before lunch ends. The second buzzer rings, and I am off to my desk.

Every second I’m at my desk is a second I can feel my head turning heavy, like a brick going underwater. I know I should have eaten more, maybe I would’ve had some more energy to get through the day. There is soon just an hour left…

I’m sure I can get through this.

But I’m out before I know it. I shoot back up in my office, my head a fishing bobber. The chilly AC blows on my neck, but it’s the beginning of December. Something’s wrong. I look up, eyes wide and heavy. Was the ceiling… dripping? I feel the slickness of the frigid water against the back of my neck, pulling away as I observe how high the walls stretched now. Was my office ever this tall? The icy water drips through into the soles of my shoes, wetting my socks into a squishy mess I can’t escape. The frosty, blue water starts to trickle faster and even as I leap up onto my desk, throwing myself against the flimsy cubical walls, the water is beginning to fill all the air in my office. Soon the water runs high above my desk and my calves freeze up in a frigid agony, then the rest of my legs. I want to tread but I found myself in a spring of ice that holds me together like my joints are steel beams. The water reaches my neck and freezes deep into my bones, cutting through all of my muscles. I kick and paddle with all my might, but pushing up against the flimsy foam of the roof is something I failed to do. I wanted one more push, struggling with everything I had, and gave a big gasp before my head goes under.

_BZZZZT!_ The bell to end my shift agitates my sleep, and I am back in that same office that bored me to sleep. My head hurts like a bitch, but at least it’s warm in my office now, like a hug after a long day. Sometimes the rat race gives a smidge of comfort. I put on my coat, turned off my computer, and slide my way out into the new city of the world. It was made to be exciting, appealing, but with my headache it all blurs into an overstimulating nothing as I drag myself into the bus. It rumbles with comfort that I’ll soon be home, and I watch tourists peer out the window with a sense of amazement I too once held for this great city. I finally find myself meandering out of the bus and up the stairs of my towering apartment. I used to think I was the luckiest girl in the world, getting the top floor, but I see now that I’ve traded all of my convenience for a view I’ve grown bored of. There’s so much light pollution I can’t even see a glimmering star, but maybe all of the flashy signs and cars and cellphones were a good substitute. I walk over to my mailbox, my feet patting against the floors of the nearly vacant living room.

Hm… I got some mail today. The worn paper opens, a beautiful purple seal.

_“If you're reading this, you must be in dire need of a change. The same thing happened to me, long ago. I'd lost sight of what mattered most in life... real connections with other people and nature. So I dropped everything and moved to the place I truly belong. - Grandpappy”_

Right beneath it laid the papers to his old farmhouse. I give a heavy sigh and rub my temples. Will I have to take this on myself? Why not my mother? She has all of her ducks in a line.

Maybe he knows I’m unhappy, deep down that my life has stagnated and it’s full of nothing. It’s the glass full for some but I know that this life, the restriction I’m under lies heavy on my chest. It’s like I’m choking on cold air. I lie on my back on the pillowy clouds of my couch, so different from the standard office chair. I find it almost too comfortable as I close my eyes, the folded letter slowly falling to my chest, the noise in my fingertips losing itself. Sleep is such a relief from the real world. I felt so sure.

I’m drowning. My lungs collapse and every second is a crush to every molecule in my body. I’m supposed to float but my office grows, and the ceiling leaves my cold, wrinkled fingertips. My brain is so empty, and my body is so swollen with water. My sinuses give in to everything and the air is squeezed from my lungs in a steamy breath. There’s a second of peace in the chill, like I’m suspended in the water. I want to flail, I want to push something, but death is oddly calm- it’s oddly full of warmth, like a hug after a long day. But death is full of the unknown, and the frozen panic sets in, but I am suspended in frigid steel. My vision… It’s failing me as the water sloshes in my ears.

I wake up in the coldest sweat, the letter nearly drenched. _I need to go. I can’t freeze up; I can’t keep treading_.

In a rush, I booked an online appointment with a moving company, and put what could fit in my original moving bins back in. It’s like I’m fresh, and my warm shower eases my frozen muscles. I throw on some comfy clothes and prepare to drive down to Stardew Valley. The drive is just a few hours long, and I know that this may be just what I need. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! I'm hoping to post once a week/once every two weeks. I just really like Sebastian and I hope this fic does him some justice! This is my first fic so don't be afraid to give critique/recommendations! love ya'll, new chapter soon.


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